Mark Kolakowski

Mark Kolakowski has an extensive background in finance, including a long multidisciplinary career on Wall Street.

During his 14 years at Merrill Lynch, Mark was a major contributor in many areas, notably profitability analysis, business forecasting, product pricing, sales compensation, market research, data mining and business strategy. Prior to Merrill Lynch, he was in business economics and financial analysis at AT&T, then a management consultant at Touche Ross (now Deloitte & Touche), whose engagements included merger analysis, bank operations and mutual funds accounting. He has been self-employed since 2001, including a stint as a consultant to JPMorgan Chase. In Career Confidential: An Insider's Guide to Business (Bamboo Books, Arlington, VA) Mark draws case studies in career management from his own experiences.

Mark earned an AB magna cum laude in economics from Harvard College, completing his studies in 3 years. Then he obtained an MBA in finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. While at Merrill Lynch, he passed the NASD Series 7 Registered Securities Representative exam.

The financial services industry offers a dynamic work environment where productivity and creativity are watchwords. It also rewards performance, with opportunities to advance rapidly and to achieve personal financial independence. My second career as an independent consultant and writer was made possible by my years on Wall Street.